The Perfect Present
by JinxPrincess13
Summary: It's Christmas time and there's a little get together at the sanctuary. Elsewhere, a violent struggle has returned a girl to her senses. Lost and just a little confused, the girl makes her way to a familiar street, ready to reunite with her love...
1. Chapter 1

She gagged as she regained consciousness. Last she remembered she had her hands around somebody's throat. She couldn't remember whose. Sanguine was sprawled on his back a short while away. She was bleeding. That was the next thing she registered.

Then she found she was in control. The Remnant was gone. Or at least she thought it was. The straight razor cutting her throat had been enough of a shock, but then she realised she was in the water, her top half twisted out to lean against the bank. It must have been something to do with Billy-Ray's phone or something. The only part of him still submerged was one foot. Her hand went to her throat, but she was relieved that the cut was shallow and that she would probably be fine for as long as it took her to find help. There was probably help nearby. She heaved herself out of the water and made to leave, but part of her stopped to check how Billy-Ray was. He was still alive, and with that she left, trying to figure out where the Remnant had gone.

This place was familiar, she thought. One or two people had heard the disturbance or maybe the bang when the phone blew up. She kept her distance from them, wanting to avoid any questions. They could get the answers they needed from Sanguine when he woke up. As she got closer to a housing district, she realised she had been here before. She knew someone who lived here.

Valkyrie was home alone. She didn't mind. She was currently getting ready for a little Christmas party she was going to with her friends at the Sanctuary. When the doorbell rang, she thought it was Skulduggery. "Tanith…"

"It's gone. I swear, the Remnant's gone!" She spoke quietly and with a sort of desperation. Valkyrie wasn't sure if she could trust her or not.

"Give me a minute." She called Skulduggery and explained what was going on as best she could with what little she knew and soon the Bentley had arrived.

"Nye thinks it was a shock. A physical shock which put her own soul into the driving seat and pushed the Remnant into her subconscious." Skulduggery and Valkyrie walked down the hall towards the room in which the party would be held. They swung open the doors just as Nye came out of its office to tell them that Tanith seemed to have done a runner.

It wasn't that much of a problem, because she was at the party. "Ghastly?"

He turned and any ghost of a smile he was wearing disappeared to be replaced by pure shock.

"Remember that date you asked me on?" She watched him nod jerkily. It was like he was a dazed puppet. "That Remnant's gone now, so I guess we can make arrangements?" At first he seemed confused, but then his head cleared, the smile returned and he pulled her into a bone-breaking hug.

They stood a little apart and smiled. Tanith wasn't aware that Ravel had come over until she felt him trying to push something onto her head. Ghastly was laughing. She snatched whatever it was from the Grand Mage's hands and found herself faced with a hairband with mistletoe sticking out of it. Grinning, she slipped it on and leant down to kiss Ghastly.

For half a beat the others stopped to look, but quickly went back to their own business. For a short while they chatted before deciding to try their luck at a dance. Meanwhile, Erskine rubbed his red cheek where Mist had slapped him for trying to use the mistletoe hairband on her and fell into the crowd next to Fletcher. Fletcher's girlfriend, Myra, had slipped away. He wasn't sure why, but it had something to do with giving a Christmas present to a friend she couldn't see at the party. Both of these slight setbacks in their day were forgotten as they caught sight of Ghastly and Tanith's lack of co-ordination on the dance floor. One of them stepped on the other's toe for the eighth time and winced as they swore. As they both went to right the mistake, they bumped heads. There was a little laughter around at their expense and they joined in, leading one another away again and deciding not to do that again for a while.

-Epilogue-

Everyone was gathered around the table, laughing and chattering joyfully. Myra came in late and took her seat, complaining that her friend refused to come down and eat with them. She began to talk to Clarabelle about Doctor Nye and Fletcher sighed darkly as he was blanked. He turned instead to Valkyrie and they began speaking instead. Erskine appeared to be trying to chat up Madame Mist again and this time she simply ignored him. Ghastly was about to ask Tanith something he deemed rather important, but he was cut off when somebody gagged and a piece of turkey came flying out of their mouth, reattaching itself to what remained in the centre. Luckily for the others, that was the only piece that had been swallowed as all the other pieces went to reform the whole thing. It was then surrounded by a strange aura and began to rise into the air before some kind of blast rocketed down from its centre and destroyed the table. Everybody moved away as the possessed turkey readied itself for another shot. Tanith took out her sword and grinned. Ghastly caught her eye, returned the smile, grabbed her hand and they leapt up to tackle it together.


	2. What Happened To Billy-Ray?

The man's eyes fluttered open. He groaned deeply. He wasn't sure where he was, but it was soft and he was wet and it smelled of the seaside. As time passed slowly he realised some things. He realised he was lying on his belly and that he ached all over. He realised it was dark and he was cold and hungry, he felt his senses sharpen so that he could actually sense how difficult he was finding it to breathe right now, the burns on his chest, the bruises on his neck, his stomach, his chest, the stinging on his right hand and now he was beginning to feel the thing clutched in his left. He pushed himself to all fours, hissing between his teeth as clumps of wet sand pushed against and in the deep cut on his hand. He stumbled a little as he raised himself to his feet, realising he had lost one of his shoes. The straight razor was closed and placed in his pocket as he staggered up the beach to the streets above. Cars passed by, not one of the people taking any notice of the soaking stranger hardly able to stand. Part of him wanted to go to a hospital or at least see someone with some medical know-how, but most of him wanted to go home. He stuck the thumb of his good hand out, hoping to hitch hike, but it was another half an hour or maybe more before someone pulled over. His pocket smelled of burning. Before getting in the car with the concerned stranger, he pulled a ruined phone from said pocket and it gave off a puff of smoke and a soft bang. It ended up back on the beach when he threw it.

Halfway through the drive, thanks to the driver's questions, he remembered what had happened. A short while away from the house he knew he had in Ireland he had decided he did need medical attention. Even so, he let himself be driven home where he tried to clean out the cut himself and then examined the bruising where Tanith had choked him and dug her knees in every place she could reach to keep him down. He was still finding it a bit hard to breathe and was starting to believe part of his phone had found its way inside his chest. With a shrug and a sigh, he went downstairs to check the fridge, only to find it empty. He found a few packets of crisps in the cupboards though and brought those back to his room. There wasn't much to do with himself. He couldn't sleep, his breathing was worse when he tried to lie down, and he didn't know where to go for the help he needed, so he just spent a few hours sat there with his legs crossed beneath him.


End file.
